After plans for an apartment complex at 8845 Burlington Ave. in Brookfield collapsed more than a year ago, a new development team is pitching another condominium complex that seeks to take advantage of its location close to the downtown Metra station.
“The Canopy,” as the development is being pitched, would be a three-story, 12-unit building with enclosed parking in the rear topped by a rooftop deck.
The development company is Three Green Vegetables LLC, whose managers are listed by the Illinois Secretary of State as John Fairclough, of Romeoville, and Peter Haleas, of Hinsdale.
It’s a company that appears to have jumped into Brookfield with both feet all at once in early 2022, buying three six-unit apartment buildings in the 4500 and 4600 blocks of Grove Avenue that January before Fairclough’s Pima Property Group bought the Burlington Avenue property that February for $385,000.
Three Green Vegetables LLC acquired 8845 Burlington Ave. via quit claim deed on Feb. 28, 2022.
Elevations of the proposed condo building, which are part of the planned development application on file with the village, depict an condominium block with a main entrance on the Burlington Avenue façade.
The front two-thirds of the building is shown as having a 3-foot setback on the north, east and west sides, with the parking structure reaching from lot line to lot line on the east and west.
Haleas, who submitted the planned development application, said he and his partner went that route, rather than simply seeking several zoning variations, because of the substantial size of the proposed building.
“We want to explain what the development is all about rather than doing it piecemeal, to address all of the issues holistically,” Haleas told the Landmark in a phone interview. “I believe this is a significant upgrade on the previous project [which the village board approved in July 2021].”
The Brookfield Planning and Zoning Commission will conduct a public hearing on the preliminary planned development application on Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Brookfield Village Hall, 8820 Brookfield Ave.
Any member of the public wishing to provide comment may do so at the hearing or prior to it by emailing correspondence to Village Planner Kate Portillo at kportillo@brookfieldil.gov.
The Brookfield Village Board will have the final say on whether to approve the preliminary application, which would then trigger a final planned development application, which will go through the same process.
Plans for the 20,000-square-foot building show four two-bedroom condominiums on each floor with the smallest (the rear two ground-floor units) at 852 square feet and the largest (the front two units on the second and third floors) at 1,360 square feet.
All of the units have two bathrooms, except for the two ground-floor units at the rear of the building, which have one, according to the plans on file. All of the units feature walk-in closets and open-plan kitchen/living areas.
A one-story extension for the covered onsite parking area is to the south almost to the east-west alley. There are 14 vehicle parking spaces shown on the plans, along with parking for a handful of bicycles.
The roof of the extension is proposed as a common open-air gathering area with seating areas, potted trees and plants.
Plans also indicate that the developers are requesting the village allow them to add four diagonal parking spaces by cutting out a section of the public parkway on the east side of Forest Avenue.
With the plan calling for 12 units, the additional diagonal parking would appear to allow the development to meet the zoning district’s parking requirements.
However, the building type itself is not allowed in the zoning district, an issue the Brookfield Planning and Zoning Commission had with the prior development. The zoning district calls for townhomes, and the prior project’s architect had to change the design in order to create more ground-floor entrances to give it a more “townhome” feel.
The Canopy as presented is massed like a traditional condominium block, with a main front entrance. There are no other ground-floor entrances except for access through the enclosed parking area to the rear.
This story has been changed to reflect that the proposed development would be condominiums, not apartments. The Landmark regrets the error.
